Summer Success Picnic Rescheduled to Friday, July 14

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Summer Success Picnic Rescheduled to Friday, July 14

Posted on 07/12/2017

The Summer Success Picnic, an event in Deering Oaks Park being held to celebrate Portland’s free summer meals program for kids and summer learning, has been rescheduled to Friday, July 14, because of rain in the forecast for the original date of July 13. The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Portland Public Schools, in association with United Way of Greater Portland and the Preble Street Maine Hunger Initiative, is hosting the picnic as a kickoff to the free summer meals program for children across the city of Portland this summer.

The Summer Success Picnic also will be a celebration of National Summer Learning Day, which is July 13. That day highlights the importance of keeping kids learning and also safe and healthy during the summer. Good nutrition is key to good health. Also, youth who spend their summers without quality learning opportunities risk experiencing the “summer slide,” in which they lose ground in subjects such as math and reading.

Youngsters and their parents are invited to this day of fun, friends, learning, and food. There will be performances, music jam sessions, face painting, learning activities, prizes and more! All activities and lunch are free for children and teens 18 years old and younger.

Summer meals programs are crucial for children who rely on free and reduced-price school breakfasts and lunches to keep hunger at bay during the school year because they lose access to those meals when the school year ends. The picnic will spread awareness about the free lunch sites operating throughout the city this summer through a partnership between the Portland Public Schools and Opportunity Alliance. An interactive online map with summer meal site information is available by going to the Portland Public Schools website, http://www.portlandschools.org and clicking on the Portland Schools Summer Programs Information banner across the front page. Summer meals information also can be obtained by calling 2-1-1 or can click HERE.